BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — While a major producer of sugar cane-based ethanol, the Motogrosso region of Brazil faces many hurdles concerning transportation and infrastructure, said Illinois Corn Marketing Board (ICMB) secretary Scott Switzer.<br>
Switzer recently returned from an 11-day, fact-finding mission to the South American country with a 12-person delegation consisting of corn producers and association members from Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois.<br>
“We wanted to see first hand what is going on in (Brazil’s) ethanol and biofuels world,” said Switzer, whose group traveled 6,000 miles - mostly in a small airplane - while visiting with Brazilian farmers and touring ethanol and biofuels plants.<br>
Brazil produces around 4.6 billion gallons of ethanol per year and exports some 900,000 gallons, said Switzer, adding that those figures are expected to increase as demand for renewable fuels rises. Much of the sugar cane grown and harvested for ethanol is produced in the Motogrosso region, where producers and transporters overcome obstacles that impressed the American delegation of corn growers.<br>
“Basically all transportation is done by truck, and from the Motogrosso area there are only two ports to haul to, one 1,000 miles to a tributary where exports are loaded onto a barge headed to the Amazon River and then to the Atlantic Ocean. Another port, around a thousand miles to the south to Santos, is another destination. All of this is done by truck because there is no rail system to speak of. The roads are atrocious,” Switzer said.
“The infrastructure was something that really caught my eye. <br>(Motogrosso) would be a perfect scenario for rail, but the government is not allowing rail into the area because of a coalition they have with the truckers. There are a tremendous amount of trucks hauling 180,000-pound gross loads, where we are allowed only 80,000-pound gross loads here. The trips are long and grueling.”<br>
Switzer said the group learned that Brazilian growers face higher input costs and crop disease problems that cause them to spray soybeans sometimes 8-12 times per growing season.<br>
“I don’t know how they realize any profit,” Switzer said, citing hard and timely labor as keys to a successful harvest in Motogrosso.
“At this point 40 percent of sugar cane production is still hand-cut. That is amazing because it is a terrible job. Along with that, it’s a just-in-time service. You cannot store sugar cane, unlike how we store corn in large bins for months at a time,” he said.<br>
“The (Brazilian) government tells us that any new ethanol plants or sugar cane processing plants will be automated. They are trying to get away from the hard labor.”<br>
Switzer said he expects the Brazilian ethanol industry to continue to grow, based in part on efficiency not available to U.S. producers of ethanol-producing crops.<br>
“They are somewhat more efficient than we are in the sense that water is not a concern for making ethanol as you hear about so much around here,” Switzer stated, “and they use the by-product from sugar cane to fuel their ethanol plants.”<br>
Some Brazilian plants are fueled, Switzer explained, through a process that includes processing leftover cane chutes through “rollers” to squeeze the juice, or “gas,” from the plant. After processing, the gas is converted to steam for power, and the product is often produced in enough excess to sell to power companies.<br>
Brazil seems to be ahead in cellulosic ethanol technology, Switzer added. “But on the other hand, they are not as productive as we are.”<br>
The cost to transport Brazil’s energy-producing crops to market is staggering, Switzer said, which is part of the reason the country’s government has imposed a mandate of 5 percent biodiesel production by 2013.<br>
“They use so much diesel because of all of their trucks and machinery,” he explained.<br>
“So far they are having trouble producing 2 percent biodiesel.
“We don’t think of (Brazil) as being a big corn threat at this point. They want to work with us, and that’s great; we’re up for that.”
The group of corn growers returned to the United States with a greater appreciation for Brazil’s ethanol production capabilities, Switzer said, though one of the aspects he was struck by was not seen by the delegation.<br>
“Brazil is currently moving ethanol in and constructing a 700-mile pipeline,” said Switzer, adding that he nor any of the group had seen it. “(U.S.) big oil is behind saying we can’t do that.”<br>
Stirling said the pipeline is made of “normal pipeline material” and has shown no signs of corrosion to his knowledge.<br>
“It was a great trip, though we had to miss one day due to bad weather. We hope to visit Brazil again in the next couple of years to (assess) their livestock industry and see how they are moving forward with ethanol.”<br>